The Lunar Queen Chapter 108

Lyric POV

When we step into the dining room Hannah yells, “Mama!” and jumps into my arms.

The excitement in her voice makes something in my chest loosen instantly.

“Hey my princess,” I say to her smiling.

She looks over my shoulder at Kairo.

“Did mama make you feel better?” she asks him.

He smiles at her.

“Yes she did,” he says and she squeals in excitement and practically jumps out of my arms.

She runs right to him and he scoops her up.

The movement is smooth but careful, like he still isn’t fully used to being allowed to hold someone again.

“I saw you, you was very sad,” she says.

“Yes I was, but I'm better now,” he says.

His answer is simple but something in his expression softens when he says it.

“Are you coming home with us?” she asks him.

He looks at me and Cole.

“Not yet,” he says softly.

Her eyes start watering.

“But why not?, papa’s are supposed to live with their families,” she says, tears falling down her face.

The room goes quieter.

He wipes her tears.

“You are right and I will soon but I have to fix things here, but I promise I will visit as much as I can,” he says gently.

She shakes her head.

“But I saw it, mama had a round tummy and you and papa were home with her. I saw it,” she whines.

I freeze at her words.

Absolutely the fuck not.

Pregnant again, that catches my attention more than anything else.

Not the vision. Not the implication. Pregnancy.

“It’s okay, I will be there as much as I can and when I fix everything here, I promise I will come,” he says to her wiping her tears again.

“You promise?” she asks.

He smiles at her and gods he is just as gorgeous as Cole.

His smile changes his face in a way I wasn’t expecting. Less guarded.

“I pinky promise,” he says holding his pinky up.

She giggles and wraps her little pinky around his.

“Pinky promise,” she says.

She looks at me.

“Mama is going to come home, don’t be sad,” she says.

My heart starts racing because she is right. Now that the mate bond is in place, the idea of him not coming back with us does make Nova and I sad a little.

The realization catches me off guard because it isn’t overwhelming. Just disappointing in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Cole walks over and kisses my cheek.

“It’s only temporary princess, he has to repair his kingdom,” he says over the link.

I look at him.

“I know, I’m not sad,” I say and he just smiles at me.

“Of course you’re not,” he says.

His expression says he doesn’t believe me for a second.

“Can we eat now?” I ask trying to take the attention off me.

I look over and Kairo’s eyes are on me and heat crawls up my neck and he chuckles and carries Hannah to the table and sits next to Ezra.

When he takes his seat Ezra looks up at him.

“You’re tall like papa Cole,” he says.

He chuckles.

“Lycan’s are usually taller than most wolves but your papa is really tall,” he says.

Ezra looks at Hannah in his lap.

“Are you really our papa too?” he asks.

No hesitation. Just curiosity.

“Yes Ezra, I saw it,” Hannah says matter-of-factly.

Of course she says it like she’s announcing tomorrow’s weather.

Kairo smiles down at her.

“Yes, I am going to be your papa too, is that okay with you?” he asks Ezra.

He thinks for a moment.

“Are you going to be nice to us?” he asks.

The question makes my chest ache.

“I will be very nice and if I’m not you can tell me and I will fix it,” Kairo responds.

No offense. No defensiveness. Just certainty.

It warms my heart watching their interaction.

Nova purrs in my head.

“He is good with them,” she says.

I smile.

“Yeah I guess he is,” I reply.

When Hunter and Joshua walk in the room they freeze.

Honestly fair.

“Okay what did we miss?” Hunter asks.

“Mama and Papa found papa Kairo,” Hannah says excitedly.

“Papa Kairo?” Hunter says.

“Yes, Kairo is mated to both of us,” I say and he looks at Cole.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, Selene explained it to us but it’s still a lot to process,” he says.

Process. Not reject. Not deny. Process.

“Yeah this definitely isn’t how I expected this to go, I’ll admit but I’m not complaining,” Kairo says looking at me then at Cole.

There’s amusement there but also caution. Like he still expects one of us to decide this isn’t real.

“Do you think we can talk after this?” Kairo asks looking between us.

His voice is careful for the first time since we met him.

“Of course,” I say.

All of this is so much to process but none of it feels wrong or awkward. It all just feels natural.

Like we just picked up where we left off even though this is new for all of us.

And maybe that should scare me more than it does but instead all I feel is this strange sense that somehow we’re catching up to something that already existed long before any of us knew it.

After breakfast is over we move to make our way to Kairo’s office but Hannah will not let him go.

“Hannah banana I need you to go with Uncle Hunter and Uncle Joshua again” I say.

She starts crying immediately.

“No mama, I want to stay with papa Kai” she says.

The title comes out so naturally nobody even reacts to it this time.

“It’s fine I really don’t mind” he says.

I sigh heavily.

“Fine” I say and he chuckles at me.

Ezra follows behind Hunter and waves bye to us.

He doesn’t even question leaving Hannah behind and something tells me he already trusts Kairo more than he realizes.

When we get into the office we all sit in silence for a minute before Kairo speaks.

“So tell me what you two are thinking and how you want this to work?” he asks.

Straight to the point. No pretending this conversation isn’t necessary.

“From a personal standpoint, the smart move would be for us to all live together and work on getting to know each other. I will say I don’t see us being romantic” Cole says.

Kairo laughs, a real laugh, and shakes his head.

“I don’t either, I understand mates are more than romance and physical relations so I know that is what it will be for us. Brothers.”

Something settles in me hearing that and I don’t realize until now that part of me was worried this conversation would be uncomfortable.

Cole nods his head in agreement.

“and what about me?” I ask.

“We share you the way fate intended for us to do” Cole says.

His answer is immediate. No hesitation.

“Now combining two kingdoms may be a bit harder” Kairo says.

“I don’t think combining them is smart, that’s too many wolves and too many packs. The only thing that should change is me officially becoming Queen here and helping you rebuild, re-establishing the alliance between the West and the East” I say.

The answer feels obvious the moment I say it.

“Your pack and your kingdom need to see you and know that you are back and that you haven’t abandoned them, your kingdom has been run by Javier and your council for way too long, you need to regain their trust and support” I say.

He and Cole both smile at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re a natural born Queen my love” Cole says.

Heat crawls up my neck because he says it like it’s obvious.

“Did you just think about this?” Kairo asks.

“No I’ve been thinking about this from the moment I discovered we were mates, the purpose of this visit was to discuss the supernatural council we wanted to create and then so many other things were revealed” I say.

“Now that we are mates it makes forming the council easier as long as the Southern king is on board.”

Kairo sucks his teeth.

“Jude is a ruthless son of a bitch that won’t be easy” he says.

There’s history in the way he says his name.

“Well he agreed to the meeting with the other species so that’s a start” Cole says.

Hannah has fallen asleep in Kairo’s arms and it really makes me smile.

She looks completely settled there and for some reason that does something weird to my chest.

He follows my line of sight.

“She’s attached” he says smiling.

“She’s been having visions of you and apparently of us” I say.

He smiles.

“I get it, she knows what is to come” he says.

There’s no fear in his voice. Just acceptance.

“How long are you guys staying?” he asks.

Cole looks at him then at me.

“Because it will probably be some weeks before we see each other again, a few days that way we can get to know each other a bit and spend time with each other” Cole says.

Kairo looks at me.

“How do you feel?” he asks me.

Not what do we think. What do I feel.

“I'm just not sure how I feel about us all living apart, Nova is restless” I say.

Kairo stands and hands a sleeping Hannah to Cole.

He comes and crouches down in front of my seat.

The movement is slow enough that I realize he’s giving me time to move away if I want to.

“Is this okay?” he asks and I nod.

Again he asks.

“I’ll try to come as often as I can so the time apart doesn’t feel too long, but I can’t leave yet” he says cupping my cheek.

The sparks settle my racing heart just a little and I lean into it.

Immediately Nova calms and that realization unsettles me more than I expect.

“I know it’s just now that I have both of you it’s going to be hard leaving you” I say.

The words come out before I can think too hard about them.

“It’s only temporary princess” Cole says.

“Tell that to my wolf” I say.

Kairo’s Lycan comes forward.

“You saved us mate, we will never be too far” He says voice rougher than Kairo’s.

Something in his voice makes my chest ache because it sounds less like reassurance and more like a promise.

He kisses me very lightly so lightly I barely feel it but it sets my entire body on fire.

Not desire. Recognition. Like something inside me noticed before I did.

“Fine” I say standing to walk out.

“I need a minute” I say and walk out of the office.

Why is this hitting me so hard.

Why am I getting so emotional about this and we haven’t even left yet.

And the worst part is I think I already know the answer. I just don’t know if I’m ready to say it out loud yet.